Alan Jacobs, in his new book Original Sin, lists "five distinct beliefs" which make up an Augustinian anthropology (or a belief in original sin): You must believe that everyone behaves in ways that we usually describe as selfish, cruel, arrogant, and so on. You must...
Mark Ward
Original Sin
"Original Sin: A Cultural History" (Alan Jacobs) I just finished Original Sin, an excellent book by Wheaton English professor Alan Jacobs (heretofore of Books and Culture and First Things fame). It's obviously appropriate to argue for the doctrine of original sin via...
The Edwards Center at Yale
Background reading for my dissertation has focused much upon Jonathan Edwards and his Religious Affections. Yale has placed the entire work—the second volume in its own august series—online, including the lengthy introduction by John E. Smith. The Banner of Truth...
The Books of the Bible For Sale
I just bought another case of The Books of the Bible, a special Bible edition which I've discussed here on the blog before. My first case sold out fast, and I didn't even want it to. I wanted to keep a few of the Bibles! You can buy one from IBS for about $15. You can...
Love for God, Not for Self, Should Be Ultimate
Even lost people can have their affections toward God raised high if they think that God is making much of them, says Jonathan Edwards. But the exercises of true and holy love in the saints arise in another way. They do not first see that God loves them, and then see...
Poythress Summarizes James Barr
Vern Poythress's book "Symphonic Theology" is available free at his site. Today I was searching my hard drive for a summary of James Barr's list of common exegetical fallacies in his famous and deservedly influential book, The Semantics of Biblical Language. I...
Son, Say Something Nice About Your President-Elect!
Parents sometimes force a child to say something nice about the sibling with whom he just finished a death match. That is not the way John McCain spoke about Barack Obama, as evidenced by his gracious speech last night—and it's not the way I feel like speaking,...
NIV, TNIV, and Five Points for One of My Faithful Readers
A few days ago I offered five points to the first person to note in the comments why this juxtaposition was counter to my expectations: NIV 1Co 7:26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. TNIV 1Co 7:26 Because of the...
The Quotable Wife
My wife was listening to an otherwise good sermon which happened to run afoul of my dissertation's thesis. We'd talked about the issue at hand (the definition of love) many times. As we passed each other in the hall, she said with a smile... "You've ruined my ability...
Foolish and Unlearned Questions Avoid
When I was a summer camp counselor at a Christian camp in 1999, I once had a cabin full of younger junior high campers. One of my campers at least was only in sixth grade, and he was a bus kid. That means his parents were lost, but that the church came by every week...